Loose leaf binder



Oct. 20, 1964 v. NEWMAN 3,153,417

LoosE LEAF BINDER /H/'arney Oct. 20, 1964 v. NEWMAN 3,153,417

LoosE LEAF BINDER Filed July 3, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct 20, 1964 v. NEWMAN 3,153,417

LOOSE LEAF' BINDER Filed July 3, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 47 l r r/l l \\/I`V O j .47 34,4

f w1; 2;@ e

.MB 4/B 50 5/ 52 INVENTOR.

53 V/c TUAJ /VEWMA/V Oct. 20, 1964 v. NEWMAN 3,153,417

LoosE LEAF BINDER Filed July 3, 1962 4 sneetssneet 4 ffy/5.

INVENTOR- V/C T01? NEWMAN United States Patent O 3,153,417 LOGSE LEAF BINDER Victor Newman, 15 Wunnlla YRoad, Point Pillen-Sydney,

NewSouth Wales, Australia, assigner, by mesne assignments, of one-iiith to AIlaswin Corporation, a corporaytion ofNew York Filed .luly 3, 1962, Ser. No. 207,232

l ClaimsA priority, application Australia July 14, 1361 1 Claim. (Cl. 129-24) This invention relates to loose leaf binders of the kindy comprising a base or back-piece; and, mounted thereon, a plurality of arcuate hooks, divided `rings or like binder prongs able freely to enter holes in a margin of the sheets of paper to be bound together. p Y

Such binders as made heretofore are usually` of metal. That in itself is not objectionable, and the priorbinders have proved quite satisfactory in use, but they have been relatively expensive mainly because the prior forms of construction have necessitated manufacture of a large number of separate parts. In the very simplest of the prior devices atleast seven different metal parts have been necessary, and that gives rise to expense not only in `manufacture ofthe large number of separate parts but also'in the assembly of the parts because of the labor costs and apparatus so involved.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the mentioned shortcomings in a very simple and inexpensive manner. A

In its broadest aspect the invention consists ina loose ,leaf binder comprising a base, a pail of binder bars disposed longitudinally of said base and pivotally mounted thereon -scthat each may be turned about its longitudinal axisinto an open position or a closed position, binder prongs integral with and projecting laterally from said bars whereof the tips are accessible for binding purposes when said bars are in said open position and inaccessible when said bars are in said closed position, and a pair of Iatchbolts respectively mounted kand 4longitudinally slidable relative to the ends of said base and able in one position to obstruct portions of said bars soto hold them in said closed position.

Examples of the invention are Villustrated in the," drawings herewith: p

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of abinder;

FIG. 2. is a plan projected from FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3-7 aresectional views respectively taken on the `CorreSpondilfl.sly numbered. lines in; FIG 2;

FIG. 8 repeats FIG. 6 except that it shows the binder prongs in open position; p

FIG. 9 virtually repeats FIG. 7 .except forsits showing of a latch bolt in open position;

FIG. 10 is a plan view similar to a left hand end portion of FIG. 2 (but partly sectioned and on a somewhat enlarged scale) showing a slightly modified form of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a partly sectioned side elevation projected from FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 10 showing another modied arrangement of the invention;

FIG. 13 repeats portion of FIG. 12 but with the parts displaced from their normal working positions to provide illustration of constructional features;

FIG. 14 is a side elevation projected from FIG. 13; and

FIG. 15 is an end elevation of a binder which may be any one of those shown in the other iigures, as applied to a book cover.

Referring to FIGS. 1-9, the base comprises a platform 16 which includes an inverted channel-sectioned stiftening spine 1'7 and two latch-bolt castings 18 constituting the ends of the base. The base parts 16, 17 and 18 are j plastics material.

3,153,417 iPatentedl'QctZG, 1'964 integral and preferably Vformed as a singleV molding of Each of the casings 18 is inthe form of an inverted shallow box, and each' has a roof 19, a side wall 20, an inner end Wall 21 and an outer end wall 22.

In eachcasing the roof 19 has anrintegral boss 23 `having a hole though it by which the base may be secured by means of screw orotherwise to amounting board or the back of abinder cover as Well understood. For preference, the bosses 23 accommodate pins V24 of a clamping plate 25 which, asindicated in FIG. 15, forms `a convenient way of mounting the binder in relation to a' binder cover.

`Referring to FIG. 15 it will be Seen that a cover con- `sisting of flaps 26 Vand 27and a back portion 28, is secured to the binder base 18 by means of the clamp plate 25 and the p-ins 24. The pins 24 being riveted over against' the roof 19 of the casing 18 as indicated at 29.

formation may be clamped in between the back 28 and the plate 25 sorto indicate a book title. or other information, asmay be required.

Each of the two binder bars 30 and 31 has a plurality of binder prongs 32 and 33 and a keeper flange 34; andy at each of its ends each of said binder bars has an integral hinge pin 35 able to rotate freely within one of a pair of `holes 36 (see FIG.`4) provided in the inner end Walls ,21 of each of the casings 18. i t

flfhe prongs 32 and 33 arejpreferably provided with means whereby each mating two of them are assisted t0 assume. and remain in alignment as` they reach closed position and when they are in that position. These registration means comprise nibs 37 `able to home neatlyin cavities 38as shown more particularly in FIG.. y6.

A Where binder bars are relatively long (as in the embodiment under'description) it will be appreciated that the vbars .will :be to some extent flexible and therefore if they are supported only at their outer ends (by means ofthe pins `35) the center portions of the twofbinder bars, and' hence the prongs in that region, might easily spread apart suiiiciently `for the'jbinding effect .to be impaired. "I'hus, it is preferable for means `tobe provided-byiwhich the binder bars arerestrained` against :spreading apart in the center regions thereof. ,These restra-ining meansV may consist 4of hooked lugs 39 which are "integral withthe lbase 18 and whichembrace Vcut-away portionsliti on the binder bars. rlfliese `portionsrli) have rounded surfaces which are one and the same (in a cylindrical sense) as the pivot pins 35, thus enabling the cut-away portions 40 to rotate as hinge pins inside the hooked lugs 39, so to prevent lateral spreading apart of the two binder bars in their central regions.

It will be understood that whereas it is desirable for the base member to be relatively rigid, it is desirable for the binder bars to be somewhat flexible, as already indicated above, as it enables them to be longitudinally bowed during their assembly relative to the base, thus to enable them to be sprung into position, tirst to get the pins 35 horned in the nose holes 36 and then to enable the cut-away portions 40 to be sprung underneath the hooked lugs 39.

It will be apparent that when the binder bars are turned away from each other, the prongs will -be spread apart as shown in FIG. 8 andmatters to be tiled may be placed upon the prongs, or previously led matter may be removed. It will also be clear that to keep the prongs in the closed position, as shown in FIG. 5 or 6, it is only necessary to apply a downwardly directed loading upon the keeper flanges 34 to hold the prongs in closed position. This downward pressure is applied to the keeper flanges -by a pair of latch bolts, each of which consists of a tongue portion 41 and a hand piece 42. The tongues 41 are slidable in guide slots 43 and 44 formed in the top` corner portions of the casings 18; that is, in the junctions of the walls 21 and 22 with the roof i9. The tongues 41 have clearance holes 45 byV which they extend about the bosses 23. Each of the tongues 41 on its under side has a stop lug 46 able to abut against the related end wall 22 thus to prevent, under normal usage of the latch bolts, separation of the latch bolts from the casings f8 when the latch bolts are pulled with the aid of hand pieces 42 clear of the keeper flanges 34, as -best shown in FIG. 9. When the latch bolts are required to keep the binder -bars in closed position they are advanced to the position shown in FIG. 7 so that the leading ends of the tongues 41 then overlie the keeper flanges 34 so to hold the binder bars closed.

It will be noticed that the stop lugs 46 are relatively small, but that is to ensure that they do not form too great an obstruction to assemblage of the latch bolts relative to the casings. This assemblage is performed simply by pushing the latch bolt into the position shown in FIG. 7 so that the lug 46 rides over the Wall 22, the latch bolt being made efficiently flexible to enable the tongue to ybend slightly until the lug clicks into its operative position as shown in FIG. 9.

In the embodiment of the invention'already described (as shown in FIGS. l-lO) it is necessary for the binder prongs to be placed in closed position, or in open position, by the user. This is not greatly unsatisfactory for most binding purposes; however, it is a simple matter to provide for the prongs to move automatically to open position immediately the latch bolts are withdrawn from the keeper flanges and for the action of closing the two latch bolts to cause the prongs automatically to reassume closed position.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 1l, the construction there shown is substantially the same as that already described except that portions of the iloor of the base are checked out and upwardly bent to function as leaf springs 47. These leaf springs bear against the under sides of the keeper flanges 34A so that immediately the latch bolts are withdrawn the leaf springs 47, by bearing against the under sides of the keeper flanges 34A, cause the .binder bars to assume open position by rotation about their pivot pins 35A. To bring the binder bars back to closed position when the latch bolts are pushed inwardly, the adjacent ends of the keeper flanges 34A are chamfered as indicated at 48, so that the leading ends 49 of the latch bolts as they are advanced inwardly will ride against the chamfered portion, somewhat in the manner of a cam, thus to depress the keeper flanges and thereby close the prongs.

.the inclined face 53 of the recesses 52 thus causing the binder bars to be turned outwardly about their hinge pins 35B. When the latch bars are moved inwardly to closed position the forward ends 49B of the tongues 41B ride against a chamfered portion 48B as previously explained with reference to FIGS. 10 and 1l.

Although the prongs on the two binder bars preferably meet point-to-point, as explained above, the prongs on the two strips may be completely out of register or staggered so that they never meet. In that case, the prongs would, in effect, have overlapping free ends when viewed in end elevation, and each prong would then be something more than a quadrant Vportion of a circle so to give a prong inter-lapping effect by which paper leaves would be prevented from becoming unbound for so long as the two bars are in closed relationship.

What is claimed is:

A loose leaf binder comprising a base, a pair of binder bars dispo-sed longitudinally of said base, each of said binder bars being pivotally mounted only at its ends on said base so that it may be turned about its longitudinal axis into -an open position or a closed position, a keeper flange integral with and projecting laterally from each of said bars, binder prongs integral with and projecting laterally from said bars whereof the tips are accessible for binding purposes when said bars are in said open position and inaccessible when said bars are in closed position, a pair of latch bolts respectively-mounted and longitudinally slidable relative tothe ends of said base and able in one position to obstruct the ends of said keeper flanges so to hold said binder bars in said closed position, a cam bar on each of said latch bolts and a follower recess in each of said binder bars into -both of which said I closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

